Meet the competitors for HALIFAX THEATRIX 2020
POLE AMATEUR
Samantha Finch
has been dancing with Studio in Essence for two years. She has a degree in dental hygiene from Dalhousie University and is a strong advocate of affordable dentistry for underserved populations. She hopes to someday be an instructor and share her passion for pole, and healing through movement, with everyone.
Molly Murphy
is a 3rd year student at the Atlantic Veterinary College in PEI. Molly has been taking pole classes at Aerial Warehouse in Charlottetown, PE for one year. Aside from pole sport, Molly is a Timbersports and CrossFit athlete.
Clare Critchley
is a belly dance fusion instructor and performer in Halifax. She has a BFA in Photography and is a Certified Personal Trainer. She took her first pole class in the Fall of ‘17 with NaRae Lee and became hooked ever since. This will be her first pole competition.
Jordan Gardiner
grew up as a competitive swimmer and rower. Once she graduated school she decided to try a new sport - pole in January 2018. She’s loved having a new sport that combines music, dance, and strength. She also loves the pole community and her Pole sisters.
Ramona Pal-Kovacs Much like my nomad Hungarian ancestors, I wondered around the world for years in search of a place that I could call home. I ended up on Prince Edward Island, and fell in love with it to the point that I now spend most of my time trying to stave off the imminent disappearance of its coasts by the ever-rising oceans.
Long time warrior, I started training with a pole for the climate apocalypse 3 years ago. Pole gives me the strength and flexibility needed for maximum survival, and has now become an essential part of my life. In my free time, I like looking at art inspired by the magnificence of bees and unsuccessfully weaving my own spider webs out of yarn (often they just end up as mittens or socks...).
Pole Comedy
Ceilidh McCoombs
Jordi Segers is a lindy hoppin' chiropterologist living on Prince Edward Island, and not unlike his study subjects, he too likes to hang upside down. He is very excited to finally bring together his love for swing dance, pole acrobatics, and chiropterology through his pole comedy persona that will be familiar to comic book fans and movie goers alike.
Kaitlyn Blatt-Janmatt is currently working as a freelance scientist (which is the better way of saying ``research assistant``) at Saint Mary`s University, but will be heading off to UNB to start her master`s degree in May. She started pole dancing almost 3 years ago at Iness and is excited to compete for the second time at Theatrix! This year she opted for comedy as she does not have a serious bone in her entire body.
Molly Marcott - By day, Molly is a passionate environmentalist working in the energy efficiency industry, but she spends nearly every night at Iness as a pole and aerial student! She loves the supportive circus community, her #polesisters, and the ability to express and de-stress through aerial arts. Last year, Molly and her doubles partner Bana placed 2nd at the CPSAF National Pole Art Competition. This year, she is excited to undertake a new challenge and compete in the comedy division at Halifax Theatrix!
Kaylah Edwards
LOW POLE FLOW
Lyndsey Paynter
Sam King joined the pole community 2 years ago and has been hooked ever since. Sam has severe hyperhidrosis, a medical condition that causes excessive sweating, but has not let that stop her from working hard at achieving her fitness dreams. This is Sam’s first pole performance and she hopes to inspire others to never give up, despite what life throws at them.
Olivia Sobey
Candice J Prior teaches pole, TRX, Pilates, and Barre. She's an expert in proper form, realignment, and building strength, so she's a great choice for clients looking to recover from injury or athletes looking for excellent cross-training. She is the 2013 Canadian national champion in the masters 40+ category for pole fitness and earned the silver medal at the 2014 world pole sport championship in the masters 50+ category.
AERIAL HOOP
Kara Richardson - Baker by day, poler by night. You would think having a full time job, starting her own side bakery and teaching pole fitness would be enough to keep those cake trimmings off but you'd be wrong. Most free time she has had in the past five and half years has been spent at Studio in Essence. Learning new tricks, keeping fit, "hanging" out with her pole buddies, gaining new bruises, they're all things that keep bring her back back for more. Well... maybe not that last one. Even with the future looking busier then ever, she hopes to also find time for her pole passion.
Jessica Judge
Natalie Thilbert is a multidisciplinary circus artist and instructor. She has been training aerials for close to 7 years and specializes in aerial rope and sling. She earned her "Instructor in Circus Arts" diploma in 2019 from the National Circus School in Montreal, QC and teaches aerial classes full-time to all ages and levels around the HRM. She strives to be in a constant state of learning and is very interested in how our bodies work to perform the seemingly gravity-defying acts of aerial circus. In another life, she spent 6 years as a researcher in Astrophysics specializing in galaxies and black holes.
Amanda Andrews - has been training in Aerial Arts since 2016 beginning with silks and quickly moving into aerial hoop. With experience in competitive skiing, soccer, and rugby; circus presented a challenge using different muscle groups and movement patterns. Her performance style is influenced by contemporary dance focusing on strong and controlled movements and an emotional connection to the music. She has performed in student showcases and Nocturne with this being her first competition.
Kelsi Goodwin
Kat Grosvenor
Camellia Saunderson is a 2010 Psychology graduate from SMU, an animal enthusiast, rescuer, dog trainer and behaviorist specializing in aggression rehabilitation. A true adrenaline junkie, she began pole dancing on a whim back in 2010 and was instantly hooked. In 2018, after a brief hiatus, Camellia began taking arial hoop lessons with DisloCait, has fallen even deeper in love with the world of performing arts, and is thrilled to have the opportunity to take part in her first arials competition.
Geena Morse
Katelyn Rowe became part of the Iness community in 2013 when she joined a pole fitness beginner class. Shortly after falling head over heels (OR heels over head*ha ha*) in love with aerial sports she became an instructor at Studio in Essence. She enjoys helping her students have fun while getting a great workout during her classes. Katelyn has performed both pole and aerial hoop at many events, festivals and competitions over the years. She is excited to be a part of Theatrix’s new aerial hoop category!
POLE DOUBLES
Krista Collier-Jarvis + Jill Hackett
Jill and Krista have been poling together since 2017. They hold a silver medal and a gold medal from Halifax Pole Theatrix as well as a bronze medal from CPSAF and were offered the opportunity to represent Canada at Worlds in 2020. Jill and Krista are also both part-time pole fitness instructors here at InesS and relish the chance to share their love of pole with other students. Individually, Jill is a grandmother of three and enjoys long swims at the beach, and Krista is a PhD student at Dalhousie who enjoys paddleboarding and anything with zombies. This year, Jill and Krista represent their Mi’kmaq community in a very emotional piece that they dedicate to the Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls. Please join them in honouring the memory of their stolen sisters.
Emilie Guitard + Angele Caissie: The Dazzling Damsels
Emilie and Angele have been doing pole fitness individually for a few years. Last Summer, they both participated in the Canadian Pole Fitness Championship where they got inspired to take up a new challenge and put together a Double Pole Routine. In the following months, they started to bring their concept to life and have been having a blast experiencing with double moves and discovering a whole new side of pole fitness.
Chris Maclean + Ella Cormier
Ella has been doing pole for a few years now. When she isn't on the pole you can find her hula hooping or hanging out with her dogs. This is ellas first time performing with pole and is so thrilled to share the stage with her doubles partner, Chris !
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Chris MacLean joined the InEss community in 2018 beginning with pole classes, but quickly fell in love with all things circus and now practices pole, trapeze and aerial silks. Pole has been an amazing creative and athletic outlet after spending a few too many years behind books and computer screens. When not at Studio In Essence, he can be found teaching high school chemistry and physics classes, climbing mountains and roaming various coastal and forested areas. This is his first (of hopefully many) pole competitions and he can’t wait to sail onto stage with his doubles partner, Ella!
POLE ART
Connor Mackie love for acrobatic sports began at a young age through years of competitive gymnastics. Two years ago, she discovered pole fitness and immediately fell in love with both the sport and the community. Outside of pole, Connor is a graduate student and when she’s not at the studio you can find her in the lab sifting through mountains of data or in the field collecting samples.
Nicole Snow Born and raised in Halifax, Nicole discovered pole fitness in 2017 after moving back home from Australia. She immediately fell in love with this fun and challenging sport. As a busy health care professional, nothing quite melts a difficult day away like time in the studio. Nicole is extremely grateful for the love and support the Iness community has brought into her life. When she's not in the studio, you can find Nicole exploring nature with her husband and their adorable dog Indy, or enjoying a glass of red wine. Halifax Theatrix is Nicole's first pole competition.
Hilary Kate has been head over heels in love with pole dance since starting in 2009. After finishing medical school, she left Halifax (and her pole family at InEss) to complete anesthesia residency training in Ontario. She continued to pole while she was away, performing regularly at showcases and competitions - solo, doubles (Poler Vortex), and troupe (She Pole Dance’s Grindhouse Girls). She was awarded silver in the Pole Sport Organization/Verticalove competition (2014; L3 Championship), gold in the Verticalove Great White North Competition (2015; Semi-pro), and gold in Pole Sport Organization Northeast (2019; L3 Championship). Working in a high stress environment, pole dance provides Hilary with a creative outlet, stress relief, and a supportive, loving community.
Paige Northrup started her circus career in 2015 while completing graduate school in Neuroscience – pole and contortion were her outlets! During her time with Iness she has performed in multiple showcases in both art forms. This is her entrance to the competition world and she hopes to show off both her love of bending and her love of pole in an interpretation of her journey.
Lexi Colpitts-Campbell has been doing pole for 7 years. She started because she has a dance background andwanted something that was strength based with a dance aspect when she stopped doing ballet.
